Comparing Citrus

[Blackened]

I've been reading a bit regarding Lemonchello and have decided to do some experimenting with flavours of various citrus fruits.

I have samples of:

Lemon (unknown variety from the supermarket)
Lemon (unknown variety from neighbours tree)
as above but green
Orange Navel
Mandarin Sumo
Mandarin Murcott
Mandarin Afourer
Tangelo
Lime

All soaking 10gm in 200ml of 60% neutral

After just 24 hours I'd have to say the Murcott is not suitable :handgestures-thumbdown: . All the others however are tasting very nice. The three different lemon samples are hard to differentiate. The very green lemon seems to be a bit stronger in flavour than the ripe ones. My personal favourite is the Sumo so far. ^:)^

I haven't done a proper taste test though, as I haven't diluted them to drinking strength, just taken tiny sips of each. So I'll have a better idea in a week or so.

I also have to say that the Tangelo smells ok but not great, however the flavour is very good. Very different from the others.

The Afourer seems to have a thicker layer of zest than all the others, so that may be a good option if cost is an issue, as you'd probably need fewer to achieve the same strength of flavour. But at 10gm/200ml there are noticable differences in flavour strength, the neighbour's ripe lemon being noticeably weaker than most.

Anyone else try different citrus? I'd love to hear of other's experiences. Especially what NOT to use lol

Cheers

[bt1]

Tangelo is under rated. use all above for gins but hadn't seriously looked at varieties of each.

Bugga more testing I guess... thanks for the idea


cheers
bt1

[Blackened]

Tangelo is under rated. use all above for gins but hadn't seriously looked at varieties of each.

Bugga more testing I guess... thanks for the idea


cheers
bt1

Keep us posted :smile: Have you tried the Tangelo alone? Or just in gin?

[Brendan]

Just curious how you've been soaking them, or what exactly are you soaking? A slice of peel, or grated zest?

As you probably already know, you really want to avoid the white pith under the skin for citrus infusions. Really screws up the flavour.

Mother in law used to make a mixed citrus with tangerine, orange, and grapefruit I think. Was a really nice combination :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Blackened]

Just curious how you've been soaking them, or what exactly are you soaking? A slice of peel, or grated zest?

As you probably already know, you really want to avoid the white pith under the skin for citrus infusions. Really screws up the flavour.

Mother in law used to make a mixed citrus with tangerine, orange, and grapefruit I think. Was a really nice combination :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Hey Brendan,

I'm soaking the zest in 60% neutral. Zested using a foot care razor. That combination sounds interesting. :smile: I've tried grapefruit alone some years ago but wasn't keen on it. Might have to give it another go though as I've learned a lot since then.